American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

We serve to advance the profession and practice of AOM

In alliance with other organizational partners, AAAOM collaboratively serves more than 26,000 licensed practitioners in the U.S. to ensure a well-regulated profession that informs and protects public health and safety. Our partners include:

The ACAOM is the regulatory agency that accredits acupuncture colleges in the United States and is regulated by the U.S. Department of Education. They are a private, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by the Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM) and the American Association of Oriental Medicine (now AAAOM). Recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a 'specialized and professional' accrediting agency, ACAOM's primary purposes are to establish comprehensive educational and institutional requirements for acupuncture and Oriental medicine programs, and to accredit programs and institutions that meet those requirements. As an independent agency, the Commission's decisions are not subject to review or change by any outside organization or regulatory body.

The AAMA promotes the integration of traditional and modern uses of acupuncture in the Western medical healthcare model to provide a more comprehensive approach to health care for patients. AAMA members are physicians who are trained in acupuncture via the "Medical Acupuncture for Physicians" program, which follows widely accepted acupuncture styles currently practiced in the United States and Canada.

The AAC is the largest and oldest provider of acupuncture practice insurance in the United States. Since its inception in 1972, AAC has offered its expertise in areas ranging from defending acupuncture malpractice claims to offering counsel on patient ethical issues. The legal team at AAC has an expansive network of resources to effectively assist its clients acupuncture defense, acupuncture practice management, acupuncture ethics and risk management.

The CCAOM is a council of acupuncture and Oriental Medicine school representatives including school owners, presidents, deans and/or administrators. This organization is a consortium of the schools and not a regulatory or accrediting body. Together, these schools collaborate to create cohesion between programs and promote best practices. There are currently 62 fully accredited acupuncture schools in the U.S. as of 2011: 53 of these are CCAOM members.

The NCCAOM creates the national board exam used in most states to grant licensure for acupuncturists. Their mission "is to establish, assess and promote recognized standards of competence and safety in acupuncture and Oriental Medicine for the protection and benefit of the public."